November 2012 Notable Toys — Board Games

Place the cubes on the boards to create 3-D snakes that will keep you rattling for hours. Follow the clues on the challenge boards, and place the cubes accordingly Develops 3-D logical and spatial vision. Launch date: May 2012.

Make a million and win the Monopoly Millionaire game. It's just like the classic property-trading game, but with a new twist. Everything's worth a lot more and there are more ways to play. Players pay rent, buy houses, collect their salary and buy properties just like the classic Monopoly game. But in Monopoly Millionaire, there's no need to bankrupt everybody. The first player to make a million dollars wins. Launch date: 2012.

Chocolate cards are played and nabbed, and played and nabbed right back. Players score points by reasoning out which confectionary card combinations will give them the most sweet satisfaction. TOOTHACHE cards, CARROT cards, and BOX-O-CHOCOLATES cards keep the game lively and surprising.

Sugary-scented bubble gum cards and bubble blowing thrills in a playful strategy game. Kids lay down their bubble gum cards in number order, and watch their bubble grow. If opponents play a "POP" card, the other player's bubble will burst. Luckily, they've got snitch cards and special bubble protector tokens on their side. Launch date: August 2012.

Urbania is a game of city renewal where players try their hand as a famous urban planner who is working on the re-development of a run-down city. To accomplish the job players must: hire the best specialists and designers. They must submit plans and create blueprints. Players must construct new and dynamic buildings to bring the city back to its former glory. If players can manage your projects well, they will become the most renowned planner and take credit for the city’s amazing turnaround. Launch date: 2012.

A House Divided simulates the epic struggle of the American Civil War that was fought over the twin issues of slavery and state's rights. The period from 1840 to 1861 saw these issues brought to a boil, and in 1861 the nation became tangled in a terrible war that lasted four long years. The game depicts the war between North and South from the First Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas Junction) to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse (or Grant’s surrender at Harrisburg…). Each player leads one of these two nations and makes the strategic decisions which determine the outcome of the war. The game board represents the United States, north and south and from the Atlantic coast to just west of the Mississippi. Including Missouri, Iowa, Illinois Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. The play map contains a number of boxes, each representing a city, town or locations important to the war. These boxes are connected by transportation lines – blue for rivers, tan for roads and black for railroads – which provide the paths to victory or defeat. Playing Time: 60 minutes. Launch date: 2012.

STAR TREK CATAN® transports the timeless game concept of the world’s most acclaimed board game—THE SETTLERS OF CATAN—into the exciting Star Trek universe. The popular characters of the Starship Enterprise come into play through novel new “support cards.” Build, trade and settle where no one has gone before. Launch date: 2012.
— As of 09/13/2012 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Same playing concept as the old Catan, but uses fun Star Strek elements; New development cards enhance the game.

In this fun game, each player gets to be Clifford, racing around the board inviting friends Cleo, T-Bone, Mac, and Mimi to the birthday party. Drop the die down the dog house dice slide and see how far you’ll go The first one to pass out all of the invitations and make it back to the party wins.
Awards: 2012 Dr. Toy 100 Best Toys

Begin a quest to settle the island of Catan. Guide brave settlers to victory by using clever trading and shrewd development. Use resources—grain, wool, ore, lumber, and brick—to build roads, settlements, cities and key cultural milestones. Get resources by rolling the dice or by trading with other players. Catan is a modern classic. It truly redefines social board games and been awarded with “Game of the Year” honors in Germany, the United States, and a host of other countries. This New edition features a six piece reversible board allowing for more replay value than the previous Gallery Edition. Launch date: 2012.
Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval

Times have been hard. To save on money, you have moved out of your old castle, and into a luxurious ravine. You didn't like that castle anyway, it was always getting looted, and never at a reasonable hour. And if it wasn't barbarians it was the plague, or sometimes both would come at once, and there wouldn't be enough chairs. The ravine is great, you get lots of sun, and you can just drop garbage wherever you want. In your free time you have taken up begging. Begging is brilliant conceptually, but tricky in practice, since no one has any money. You beg twigs from the villagers, and they beg them back, but no one really seems to come out ahead. That's just how life is sometimes. You are quietly conquering people, minding your own business, when suddenly there's a plague, or barbarians, or everyone's illiterate, and it's all you can do to cling to some wreckage as the storm passes through. Still, you are sure that, as always, you will triumph over this adversity, or at least do slightly better than everyone else. This is the 7th addition to the game of Dominion. It is 500 cards but is not a stand-alone. It adds 35 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus new bad cards you give to other players (Ruins), new cards to replace starting estates (shelters), and cards you can only get via specific other cards. The central themes are the trash and upgrading. There are cards that do something when trashed, cards that care about the trash, cards that upgrade themselves, and ways to upgrade other cards.

Easily recognizable animal faces are fun to find as players turn over pairs of tiles, searching for a matching pair. Children and adults alike enjoy this game of memory and observation skills. 24 pairs to match. Box is 9"X9".

The smiling faces of 24 children from countries all over the world are fun and sometimes challenging to match in this memory game. The back cover shows each child and identifies their home country. 24 pairs to match. Box is 9"X9".

America’s favorite game is now offered in a Wimpy Kid version. Includes new Wimpy Kid rules and features an exclusive 50-word dictionary. Includes game board with Greg and the gang from the best-selling book series. Players 2-4.

Kids must catch the moving fish in this game, using their magnetic fishing poles.

Unlike any other Chess teacher, No Stress Chess teaches kids how to play using illustrated cards and an illustrated 2-sided board. Once players become comfortable with the moves and powers of each piece, flip the two-sided board over and play standard game of chess. For 2 players. Contains a 2 sided chess board, 17 charcoal pieces and 17 ivory pieces, 56 action cards, black plastic card tray and instructions.

Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures, but poor food choices and eating habits can lead to a lifetime of obesity and other health problems, low energy, general malaise, and even poor self-esteem. MyPlate Food BINGO is a fun, easy way to teach 9 year olds and up how important it is to eat healthy and grow up feeling energized and feeling great. Based on the USDA's revamped MyPlate food categories - vegetables, fruit, whole grains, protein and dairy - this gustatorial game's 95 different foods will get everyone involved considering different options, portion sizes and combinations.
Awards: 2012 Tillywig Brain Child Award; 2012 Parent's Choice Approved Award; 2012 Dr. Toy's Best Vacation Product; 2012 Dr. Toy's Alumni Award of Excellence; 2012 Family Review Center Gold Award; 2012 Creative Child Magazine Game of the Year Award.
—  "So much packed into this little package. Great for teachers to incorporate into a classroom activity and great for at home too...An overall great learning tool, that promotes healthy standards in an easy to understand and easy to implement manner." - a review on Family Review Center.

Includes three creative ways to play. Puzzle It: create a pattern and color wheel puzzle. Shape It: find and match the shape it cards. Build it: stack and build for colorful construction play. Encourages color/pattern recognition; matching, creativity & imagination, dexterity and collaboration.